A debt collector jailed for murder after allegedly throwing acid on an elderly woman has had his conviction downgraded to manslaughter after the Court of Appeal found there was no evidence to prove he had thrown the liquid.
In September last year, Lau Bo-ki, 57, was found guilty by a Court of First Instance jury of murdering Suen Lai-hing, 86, in the flat she shared with her son-in-law, Wong Kwok-chu. Madam Justice Clare-Marie Beeson sentenced Lau to life imprisonment.
On June 2, 2004, Lau went to Suen's flat to recover HK$76,000 owed by Mr Wong. He was greeted at the door by Suen and it was alleged he threw a small amount of sulphuric acid at her and then tipped more of the liquid into the flat. Suen then slipped on the puddle of acid and fell into it, breaking two bones and being burnt by the liquid. She suffered chemical burns over 15 per cent of her body, including the right eye, arm, buttocks and thigh. Suen died in hospital on July 10.
It was the throwing of the acid that the prosecution had relied on to establish the intent to injure necessary for a murder conviction against Lau.
But the Court of Appeal agreed with Keith Oderberg, counsel for Lau, that the prosecutor had not established beyond reasonable doubt that any acid was deliberately thrown at the elderly woman.
'[Nowhere] was it made clear to the jury that there was no evidence on which they could safely rely that the deceased had been deliberately splashed across her face with sulphuric acid,' the court said. 'Yet ... it was this allegation which was the basis of the allegation of murder.'
